


One Sunset Dream

by teleogenesis



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Sci-fi, Android Bounty Hunters, Androids, Character Death, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep AU, Everyone is in their 20s-30s, Kageyama-centric, M/M, Mystery, Plot-heavy, Rated M for violence and language, Slow Build, What is Hinata? Who knows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 21:12:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5800264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teleogenesis/pseuds/teleogenesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years ago, The Great War decimated Earth's ecosystems, killing millions and leaving the world's atmosphere ruined by an ever-present cloud of irradiated dust. Those lucky enough to be left unscathed fled to greater prospects among the stars - While the less fortunate were left hopeless on a dying Earth.</p>
<p>Kageyama Tobio is a disgraced bounty hunter, trying his best to stay alive in a world brought to its knees. But things become complicated when a strange list of targets and an even stranger virtual reality device come into his life, throwing his simple world into chaos and making him question the very nature of things he knows to be absolutely true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Sunset Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta reader @DramaticalHeart on twitter, and @quim_kim whose encouragement kept me writing even when it was hard. I owe you guys the world! ヽ(；▽；)ノ

_ ‘It’s a sunny day out here, with good weather conditions that are just perfect for all your outdoor excursions!’ _

 

It's dark as shit, liar.

 

That was the first thought to cross Kageyama Tobio's mind as he stared out his apartment window at the the bleak early morning scenery. His eyes were greeted by the sight of nothing but greys, the atmosphere darkened by layers of fog and clouds and dust. Not even the lights of the complex across the street seemed to cut through the smog today - their blues and whites would have been a welcome sight compared to this dullness. And through it all came the hiss of rain, blackened by dust and smattering what he could see in a dingy wetness. The world, he mused, was an ugly place like this. Though, he supposed he looked just as bleak and colorless as the outside world, from his black hair to his sun-starved skin, and tired blue eyes that were only a step away from fading into the same grey as the outside world.

 

He peered upward, past the small eave protecting his window towards the murky sky above, as if somehow the sun would come peeking out from behind the haze if he did. But it didn’t. He took a slow sip from his mug, feeling a tiny hollowness in his heart as his eyes rested on the clothesline that had hung uselessly outside ever since he moved into his apartment.

 

That was just how life was now, under the ever-present layer of irradiated dust.

 

_ ‘... And now back to the station for a look at the upcoming week’s forecast.’ _

 

_ ‘Well, it looks like another good week here, starting out with moderate temperatures which will give way to warmer weather by the weekend  _ – _ ’ _

 

Kageyama eyed his stereo in disdain as it piped the overly-chipper broadcaster’s voice out, giving news of a time long gone. It was bittersweet, listening to old broadcasts that had been set on repeat, but it was better than silence.

 

It had been years since the radioactive cloud had rolled into the skies overhead, supposedly a byproduct of the last great war – though which country was responsible for it and where it had originated from was information lost to time. Nobody spoke of the war anymore, and Kageyama doubted you could find a single person who even remembered which countries fought, what they fought over, and least of all who won. It was hardly relevant information. The only thing that mattered anymore was the dust, and how to live another day with its constant presence overhead.

 

Kageyama turned away from the depressing scenery, downing the last of his morning coffee and looking about his apartment. It wasn’t much better than the outside world – the walls of his single room were the same sad grey as the fog that blanketed the streets, and the flooring was dusty and worn, providing little comfort to his bare feet. Even the appliances stuffed into the narrow kitchen by the front door were scuffed up and sagging under some oppressive force. But at the very least, it was clean and the ceiling wasn’t giving way yet, which was practically a luxury in comparison to the frequently uninhabitable buildings that covered Sendai’s landscape.

 

At one point – near the beginning – the government had planned on cleaning up the plethora of abandoned buildings, tearing down what was no longer habitable and rebuilding. Surely out of some misguided sense of pride for what Sendai and Japan had once been. But as time went on the plans seemed to dissolve into the aether, supposedly in favor of more realistic endeavors, like keeping the lights on for what residences were even left.

 

_ ‘Moving back to sports, the top match today saw the Lions facing off against our standing champions, the Giants, with an unbelievable score of…’ _

 

It was for the best anyway. The populace had dropped dramatically ever since the onset of the dust, either because they had migrated to a colony planet in time to avoid the chaos of the war, or because they had fallen ill with radiation sickness from the dust and died. Sendai’s remaining population – probably a hundred thousand at best – needed to focus on their day to day life, or risk not seeing another day at all. Kageyama steeled himself as he grasped the handle of his sink, hoping silently there would be enough water today to last. He’d experienced one too many stretches of time where there simply hadn’t been enough clean water to go around, and the phantom thirst still prickled his throat whenever he reached for a tap. The stream of water that fell from the tap when he turned that cold handle relieved his body of the tension that had subconsciously built up. He cleaned the chipped mug out quickly, then set it up on a sparse shelf, which housed only a mismatched set of dishes as its companions.

 

Yeah.

 

It was bland, and it hardly distracted him from the ugly reality waiting right outside his door, but this kind of living was good enough. Kageyama kept on staring at the newly-cleaned mug blankly, taking his peace for a few empty moments before heaving a sigh and turning to walk to the front door.

 

It was delivery day down at the market, and if he wanted to eat this week he’d need to be at the door when they opened. Kageyama grimaced at the idea of the market’s early morning chaos as he pulled his air purifier down over his face, and stuffed his feet into the shoes he had carelessly kicked off in the cold stone entryway.

 

He hated these days. The seas of noisy, grabby people were unbearable to him, and if he had the freedom to choose crowds or solitude, then he would gladly hole away in his apartment until it collapsed in on his head. Kageyama considered slipping his gun into the pocket of his raincoat as he shrugged it on, but decided against it after contemplating for all but a second. There wasn’t any need for that, no matter how much he disliked being around others.

 

Kageyama heaved a sigh as he pulled open the door, and begrudgingly stepping out into the stifling humidity.

 

* * *

 

 

Nearly three hours later,  Kageyama found himself skulking back towards his apartment with a barely half-full grocery bag to show for his effort.

 

“Hardly even worth it, should have just stayed inside-” He grit out, kicking at a piece of rubble in frustration and watching it skid off along the rain-slicked walkway. The meager groceries had taken up a much larger portion of his savings than he would have liked, and it was doubtful he could even stretch them into enough rations to keep him fed for the next week.

 

_ It’s probably time to start looking for another job. _

 

His own thought itched the back of his mind, calm and rational – and annoying. Just thinking about work got him keyed up more than he liked to admit, but his quickly dwindling savings wouldn’t last him forever, and he didn’t have the skills to try and subsist on only the barren landscape of Miyagi.

 

There were supposedly some who had the fortitude - People on the streets whispered about mysterious nomadic colonies who roamed the wastelands, subsisting on whatever they could forage from the radiation-flooded areas. But Kageyama doubted that. There was little more than death out in those wastes, whether it came in the form of starvation, dehydration, or radiation sickness.

 

With a deep scowl on his face, he peered over to the nearest advertisement board, surrounded by a smattering of people who stood staring blankly into the colors and lights as though it was the most enchanting sight they could have imagined. Though, anything bright was an improvement to the bleak landscape.

 

A deep sigh fogged up the inside of his air purifier.

 

_ A job, then. _

 

Kageyama trudged up to the board, positioning himself between two separate ads to watch, holding his breath in anticipation of a job listing segment scrolling onto the LED screen. It wasn’t like this was his first experience in job hunting – Honestly, in the years after the war, he had scrounged up more jobs than he had ever known existed in the days of his adolescence. Some by flyer, some by word of mouth, some… less savory than others.

 

But the experience had eventually led him to the perfect job, that one position that he clicked into so naturally he could feel the excitement thrum through his bones just thinking about it. A hired gun for the police, devoted to tracking down the nasty bounties that even the police didn’t want to dirty their hands with.

 

There was nothing like it, to him. The thrill of the chase, the game of wits, and the inevitable moment where he knew without a doubt he had bested the challenge set before him. He conquered mark after mark back then, until he was arguably the best gun in the force – and yes, he dared to even say the best in Miyagi, or maybe even all of Japan.

 

… Well, that was all in the past.

 

His eyes lingered on a brightly-colored ad, showing a spinning helmet with large, English font sparkling beneath it. It was some kind of recreational virtual reality toy that had become popular lately – But Kageyama just scoffed at it. He couldn’t understand why people would throw their time and money into something that wasn’t real when they could put it towards something valuable, like food or jobs. No matter how bad the world was, it was better than rotting away with your head stuck in some stupid bucket. He almost felt relieved when the ad blinked away, replaced with several smaller ads, a couple of which were for open job positions. Kageyama leaned in, reading over the listings with a newfound sense of invigoration.

 

_ Looks like the government is hard up for reactor cleanup workers… _

 

Kageyama frowned at the idea of taking a position like that – it would be steady work, and good income, but at the cost of constant radiation exposure that was even more intense than what he dealt with on a daily basis. People who took those jobs were seriously desperate, and didn’t tend to stay healthy, normal folks for long. But…

 

He glanced down to the meager bag of groceries in his hand, and thought back to the sagging refrigerator back home, barely storing much more food than what was in his hands. Beggars could hardly afford to be choosers, and he wouldn’t stay healthy with an empty stomach anyway.

 

He was about to grudgingly take down the information for the position when the device on his wrist started buzzing. Cocking a brow, he lifted his arm to peer at the tiny screen that was flashing at him.

 

_ -Incoming video call from Sawamura Daichi- _

 

Kageyama blinked once, then twice, then a third time for good measure, before accepting the call with a shaking hand. It had been ages since he’d gotten a telephone call, and his heart was pounding against his ribcage in anticipation, the cleanup job all but forgotten. The display blanked out for half a heartbeat before the image of a sturdy-looking man with short-cropped hair and dark eyes that held an air of authority came onto the screen.

 

He’d never seen this person before in his life.

 

“H-Hello?”

 

“Kageyama Tobio? This is Sawamura Daichi, I’m an officer from the Karasuno precinct.” The man on the other line spoke, his deep voice slightly garbled with static, but still distinguishable to Kageyama’s ears, “I was hoping to talk to you, could I take a minute of your time?”

 

_ Take away stranger, I’ve got more minutes than I know what to do with. _

 

Kageyama bit back the sarcastic response he wanted to give and opted for a more formal tone that wouldn’t hazard irritating the strange cop on the other end of the line. “Yes, I’ve got a moment free.” The man nodded slowly on the other side of the screen, a pleased smile lighting up his features.

 

“Good, good. I’ll get right to it then, Kageyama. I know about your reputation. I’ve seen the reports on your past cases, and was recently told about your dismissal from Kitagawa Daiichi’s force…”

 

_ Great, definitely not rubbing salt in the wound with an opening like that. _ Kageyama thought, his expression souring at the screen and man behind it.

 

“... So I wanted to ask if you’re you still in the bounty hunting business?”

 

“Naturally.” The word came a little too fast to be taken as truthful, but it wasn’t entirely a lie either. He was still the best hired gun around, and could easily prove that claim if given the opportunity. He was just a little less employed than he would like to be. No big deal.

 

“Oh, that’s fortunate for you. I had hoped you would be free to take on some work for our precinct, but if you’re already gainfully employed, then I suppose we should look elsewhere-”

 

Kageyama’s mind blanked at that. A job. This complete stranger, from a precinct he’d never interacted with in his life had heard about his reputation, including his experience with Kitagawa Daiichi, and wanted to offer him work. Was it fate? Or just some incredibly lucky timing?

 

“I-I’ll take it!!” Kageyama blurted out, startling both the people around him and Sawamura on the other end of the line. He looked about bashfully, offering an apologetic nod to the other bystanders who were looking on with expressions ranging from shock to annoyance, before turning back to the video screen and the rather confused-looking cop, “Sorry about that. Uhm, what I meant to say is that I’d be happy to take on the work.”

 

“Really now? There’s no need to feel obligated, if this request would be interfering with any other work you’ve got currently,” Sawamura said on the other end of the line, his tone and expression evening out as he recovered from the outburst.

 

“It’s no problem. The work I have right now…” _ Is basically nothing, _ “isn’t fulfilling enough for me. I’d gladly take on any bounties you have prepared.” Kageyama said firmly, with a nod to punctuate his words – which seemed to please Sawamura, if the way his eyebrows shot up were any indication.

 

“I see… Well, that’s fortunate then. We’ve got an unusual case on our hands, and we need all the help we can get,” Sawamura smiled on the other end of the line, in a completely genuine way that was almost embarrassing for Kageyama to watch, “It’s even better if that help can be a bounty hunter as talented as the famous Kageyama Tobio.”

 

“Th-thank you, Sawamura-san.” The man on the other end of the line simply shook his head before fixing Kageyama with a steady gaze and a grin.

 

“You can call me Daichi. Everyone else here does anyway.”

 

“Daichi-san.”

 

Daichi’s grin widened slightly at the response, a small chuckle rumbling out from his chest. “Alright, then. How quickly can you get here?”

 

* * *

 

The atmosphere of the police station’s lobby felt uncomfortably cold on Kageyama's skin as he sat waiting in a chair near the exit, impatiently bouncing his leg. He glanced up at the clock – Eleven twenty eight. This Sugawara guy was late as hell for someone who supposedly worked at police station. Kageyama's mouth twisted into a scowl as he looked around the room again, as if the man would have appeared without announcement since his last check. But it turned out the same as ever, clock ticking away on the wall, plastic tree sitting in the corner collecting dust, Daichi sitting beside him in an equally uncomfortable chair, working away at some report or another and probably collecting about as much dust as the tree. Kageyama bounced his leg faster and grit his teeth in irritation.

 

_ Annoying. Annoying, annoying, annoying, annoying, annoy- _

 

"Kageyama, stop shaking your leg. It's distracting."

 

Shamed, his leg froze in place at Daichi’s voice, then gently lowered itself until his sole was flat on the floor. He could feel Daichi’s firm gaze boring into his skin, as if he could force Kageyama into behaving through sheer will alone – It felt eerily similar to being stared into submission by a parent and the feeling was far from welcome. He grit out a reluctant apology, but Daichi only responded with an ambivalent shrug of his shoulders.

 

“... He’s late.” Kageyama muttered sourly.

 

“Suga’s a busy guy.”

 

“Why can’t you do the debriefing again?”

 

“Like I said, I’m just here to keep you in line and hand you your paychecks. Suga’s the one who has all the technical information. If I tried to explain it to you, I’d just end up confusing the both of us, and there’s no sense in doing that.”

 

“Can’t you at least give me the gist of it?”

 

“No can do, Suga has his own way of doing things and I’m not going to step on his toes.”

 

Kageyama ground his teeth in frustration. He’d expected to come in, pick up a rap sheet from Daichi and be free to get to work. Instead he was stuck waiting around for some damned techie – Sugawara – to come and debrief him on this case he was supposed to be taking on, and the wait was certainly not endearing the man to Kageyama right off the bat. He was seriously gonna-

 

“Ah, there he is.” Daichi’s voice rumbled out beside Kageyama, holding an odd color to the tone – If Kageyama had to guess, it would be… fondness? When he glanced over to the man beside him, finding the other’s lips curved up into a warm and genuine smile, he figured fondness was the best thing to describe it as after all. Kageyama followed Daichi’s gaze and found himself watching an elderly man approach from the other side of the lobby. The man in question was wearing a toothy smile of his own, a single hand raised in an amicable wave directed towards them, which Daichi seemed to return with a nod before standing from his seat.

 

“Kageyama, this is Sugawara Koushi, our number one techie. He’s in charge of everything here from systems upkeep to forensic computer analysis. Anything you need to know about technology, Suga knows.” Daichi explained smoothly, while Sugawara seemed to be on the verge of protesting, his mouth hung open, brows furrowed, and his face tinting a light shade of pink. “And Suga, this is Kageyama Tobio, the bounty hunter you’ve been waiting on.”

 

As if by cue, Suga turned his attention fully on Kageyama, sizing him up with a pair of wide, dusty brown eyes. With a bit of a start, Kageyama realized that despite the head of silvery hair, Suga was actually very young - Perhaps only a few years older than Kageyama himself, despite being a few centimeters shorter. His skin was ridiculously pale, and looked nearly grey underneath the fluorescent lights of the lobby, but his expression was cheerful and seemed to light up his entire face, despite his odd appearance.

 

Kageyama shot a glance towards Daichi out of the corner of his eye, quickly noting the solemn expression the man was wearing – as if reading Kageyama’s mind and preemptively warning him against opening his mouth. Kageyama wisely held his tongue, turning his attention back to the silver-haired man in front of him.

 

“It’s a pleasure, Sugawara-san.” Kageyama managed to get out while bowing stiffly to the other. And much to his chagrin, his awkwardness only seemed to amuse the other man, who let out an easy, natural laugh.

 

“Don’t mind the formalities. Having to put up with those stiff honorifics makes me feel older than I should, so if you could just call me Suga that would be great.” The man placed his hands on his hips as he spoke, and Kageyama couldn’t help noticing that the skin of his fingers was nearly the same shade of crisp white as his lab coat.

 

“S-Suga, then.” Kageyama choked out, the lack of honorific feeling foreign and completely unpleasant on his tongue. Suga seemed to hold back a peal of laughter at that, and Daichi had his head turned in a different direction, though Kageyama could see his cheeks lifted a little in what must have been a hidden smile.

 

“You were right Daichi, he’s so uptight,” Suga said conspiratorially to the cop, a devilish grin on his face before turning his attention back to Kageyama, “We’ll just have to break you of that then, won’t we? Now, follow me and we can get started on your debriefing.” Suga continued on without acknowledging the scandalized look on Kageyama’s face, turning quickly on his heel and walking swiftly towards the door he had come through, his coat billowing behind him.

 

Kageyama turned to face Daichi, his mouth hung open and several unspoken questions on his tongue, but the cop only clapped him on the shoulder with a grin.

 

“Better get moving. He’s not afraid to leave you in the dust, even if it’s your first day here.” Kageyama only nodded silently, stepping forward slowly at first, obviously still shell-shocked, before he broke into a brisk pace to catch up.

 

When he did finally manage to get himself within Suga’s space, the man shot him a warm smile over his shoulder. “So, how much did Daichi tell you about this case?”

 

“Nothing, aside from the fact that it’s an odd one.”

 

“Good! Daichi couldn’t tell a microprocessor from his own toaster, so he’s totally useless when it comes to explaining the technical aspects of things. If I didn’t know any better I’d swear the only thing he’s got in that head is legal procedures.” Suga went on as he approached a steel-door elevator and pressed the down button with the pad of his thumb. “I tried to get him to repeat some information once, to his partner. Complete disaster. The project quite literally blew up in their faces – God, Asahi must have cried for a week straight over that. He still blames himself, but really, I should have known to explain it in person.”

 

“So that’s why you wanted to debrief me yourself?”

 

“Mmm…” Suga hummed thoughtfully, casting his gaze off to the side in a manner that felt just a bit avoidant to Kageyama, “Yes… But also no.”

 

When Kageyama responded with only a blank stare, he gave a sheepish grin and continued.

 

“Because of the nature of this case, I figured it would be best for you to see what I’m talking about in person. It would save me a lot of trouble trying to explain technical terms you may or may not be familiar with, and… Well…” He trailed off once again, an uncomfortable moment of silence falling between them that was broken by the ding of the elevator arriving. When Suga finally made eye contact again, he was still wearing the same sheepish grin as before, “Frankly, I’m a little worried you wouldn’t believe me if I didn’t.”

 

“It can't be that unbelievable of a case.” Kageyama said blandly as they stepped into the elevator, Suga again mashing the button that they needed and following it with the close door button.

 

“I know it probably seems that way to you. Your case list is extensive, and you've got a lot of varied experiences… Yes, I looked into it, don't give me that look.” Kageyama snapped his attention immediately to the reflective elevator doors, trying to fix whatever look had subconsciously snuck onto his face–

 

_ This is just my regular face though? _

 

“But…” Suga continued on, “I've seen plenty of things in my time too. I've studied all kinds of theoretical things, heard whispers of things that shouldn't even be possible. So believe me when I tell you that this is about as strange as they come.”

 

Kageyama watched in silence as Suga stepped towards the door, a mere second before the elevator dinged to announce its arrival, as though the exact time had been conditioned right into his body. The two doors slid open to reveal a blindingly white hallway, and a draft that shot straight through the layers of Kageyama’s clothing to his skin. A single door stood at the end of the short hallway, decorated by a black placard that had “morgue” written on it in crisp white lettering.

 

“They make you work in the morgue?” Kageyama asked with a hint of distaste souring his tone.

 

Suga responded with a light chuckle as he continued down the hall at a swift pace.

 

“Not quite. The case we’re handing you deals with multiple targets of a very…unique nature. They managed to put our last bounty hunter in the hospital with a pretty severe spinal injury, but not before he took one of them out too. We managed to recover that one, and we’ve been holding it here to study ever since. I figured you would appreciate the experience, since you're the next in line to hunt them down.” But something about Suga’s phrasing gave Kageyama pause.

 

“‘It’?” He asked hesitantly as Suga approached the doors, laying a hand on the polished steel handle. The man only shot him a strained smile over his shoulder before pushing the door open and stepping inside. An anxious feeling settled in the pit of Kageyama’s stomach as he followed suit.

 

His face twisted up at the scent in the room. It reeked of formaldehyde and blood, a combination that screamed ‘death’ far louder than any other sensation he’d experienced thus far. He made a disgruntled noise at the shiver that ran down his spine, drawing a chuckle from Suga.

 

“Sorry, I know the smell’s a bit unpleasant at first. You’ll get used to it though.” Kageyama could feel his frown deepening, despite the fact that Suga’s words were meant to be comforting. Unpleasant was an understatement, the place smelled absolutely rancid. He definitely didn’t _ want _ to get used to anything down here.

 

“... Let’s just do this quick. It’s freezing.” Kageyama grumbled, his shoulders hitching up to his ears in an attempt to stave off the chill.

 

“Can’t argue that.” Suga grinned as he shoved his reddening hands into his coat pockets and headed around a partition into the dissection area. Rounding the corner after him led Kageyama face-first into an even stronger wave of stench that nearly made him gag. How anyone managed to work in this rotten icebox of a room was beyond him. Taking a lungful of dust would have been a more appealing alternative in Kageyama’s mind, if someone would offer it.

 

Seated at a desk facing away from the entrance was a young woman toiling away on some type of paperwork, her long black hair swaying back and forth slightly with the movement of her pen strokes. She didn’t make any motion to acknowledge the two men as they entered, seemingly too focused on her task to notice.

 

_ Either that or she just can’t be bothered by us, _ Kageyama thought blithely.

 

“We’re back, please excuse any interruption,” the other man chimed out as he stepped further into the room, announcing their presence to the woman. “Shimizu, this is Kageyama Tobio, the bounty hunter that’s going to be taking over our oddball case. And Kageyama, this is Kiyoko Shimizu, our coroner.”

 

At Suga’s words her pen finally slowed to a halt and she – Kiyoko – turned back to face the two. Kageyama quirked a brow at her face. She was certainly beautiful, with a pair of doe eyes and full lips accented by a tiny beauty mark at the corner, but there was something odd about the look on her face that made Kageyama think twice about calling her a beauty – it was completely blank. She didn’t even try to fake a smile for politeness’ sake as she offered a quiet “Nice to meet you”. Kageyama returned the words while thinking that the frigid room rather suited her demeanor.

 

“Let’s get to the point of why we’re here then, shall we?” Suga said before starting towards one of the dissection tables in the center of the room, motioning for the other two to follow with a sweep of his hand. “Kageyama, have you ever been assigned to a case dealing with rogue androids before?”

 

“... Androids…?” Kageyama muttered out, his face scrunching with confusion. If this case was to take down rogue androids, then it certainly was as unusual as Daichi and Suga had claimed. “I worked a handful of android cases back at Kitagawa Daiichi. But they were rare.”

 

_ And terrifying. _ His brain supplied, sending a shiver down his spine. Over the years, he had gotten used to the bloodlust and rage of men who had nothing to lose. Criminals, murderers, thieves, they all reacted with some emotion or another, and facing down an armed opponent who was screaming with fury or terror hardly spooked Kageyama like it used to. People who stared him down with murderous intent were just another challenge to be overcome, as though it were a battle of wills and not weapons.

 

Androids were different. There was no emotion to be found in those eyes, no will to dominate. Staring down an android target was like staring into the eyes of a completely alien beast, impossible to read, and infinitely more impossible to comprehend. They simply did things as they pleased, regardless of motivation or benefit. And that sort of unpredictability terrified Kageyama down to his very core.

 

“Mm, yes. Modern companies are very careful to design the programs so that there aren’t any loopholes that allow their androids to ignore protocol, so only very damaged or bugged units even have the potential to go rogue. It’s rare, but does happen from time to time…” Suga said, his tone and expression neutral, before turning to look at Kageyama directly, “Tell me something, did Kitagawa Daiichi ever show you what they look like on the inside?”

 

“Kitagawa Daiichi didn’t, but I’ve seen it in the field.” It was an experience to remember for sure, the android had been ripped apart by an improvised explosive that had gone off in its hand before it had a chance to toss the device at Kageyama. And it hadn’t been a pleasant sight at all – machine parts whirred and pulsed desperately, shining through the black ooze that flowed from the gaping wounds. In among them laid a smattering of what had previously been functioning organs, a key feature of partially organic androids that were supposedly meant to make the things more realistic. But they hardly made any sort of difference when the android was smearing them across concrete flooring as it struggled to crawl away. The shot he put in the back of its head didn’t feel honorable in the least, but the paycheck Kageyama earned for it paid the bills all the same, and that was more than enough to keep his conscience clear.

 

Suga raised a brow at that response before giving a small shrug. “So long as you’ve got an idea of what’s usually going on under the hood…” He pulled up beside an occupied operating table, his eyes trained on Kiyoko as she took a place by the head, resting a delicate hand on the edge. On the table, covered by a blank white sheet was no doubt the mysterious target that Suga had mentioned. Kageyama leaned against an adjacent table and stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep him from fidgeting. He was nervous. Anyone would be. There was something deeply unsettling about this whole situation - being called in by some weird cop about a mystery case, and then dragged all the way down to the morgue to take a look at it himself. He didn’t have an inkling of what was going on, but he somehow got the impression that it wouldn’t ease his anxiety even if he did. Kageyama bit the inside of his cheek as Suga nodded to Kiyoko, who slowly began pulling back the sheet.

 

As Suga said, underneath the sheet was the target laying naked on the table with a clean I-shaped incision in his chest that left his innards exposed. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the person underneath from what Kageyama could see. He was young enough, with an average-looking face and brown hair that was cut close to his scalp. His eyes were closed in a calm, almost tranquil expression, his skin still held a surprising amount of color. But it was the sight of his chest that dropped Kageyama’s stomach straight through the floor. White bone and tendons stood out against the muscles of his ribcage in the fluorescent light, and organs purpled with still blood sat deeper underneath those. There were no whirring parts, no black ooze, no metal to be seen.

 

“Son of a bitch-” A hiss escaped the hunter as he reached up to cover his mouth in disgust. “What are you playing at? This is just a regular corpse!”

 

“That's what we thought at first too. Take a closer look though, right here.” Suga made a beckoning motion with his hand, then pointed directly into the torso at a gleaming white rib.

 

Kageyama relaxed marginally at that, though not enough to ease the scowl from his face. His eyes snapped over to peer into the depths of the I-incision, and gave Suga a wary glance before inching forward to get a closer look. Sure enough, embedded into the bone of the body’s lower rib was a small strip of metal, engraved with a series of thin vertical lines.

 

“... A barcode?” He muttered, brows knitted in confusion. Body modification wasn’t too uncommon, and barcodes were a popular enough theme in underground circles, but he’d never heard of someone putting one _ inside _ their body where it couldn’t be seen. And he couldn’t even imagine someone would be crazy enough to weld it directly into their bone, either.

 

“Mhm, and that’s not all. There’s a port embedded in his spinal cord, right about where the neck meets the back of the head.” Suga hummed before pulling his hand back from the table, and Kageyama’s attention with it. Kageyama straightened again, giving Suga a curious look as the man tapped the back of his own neck, as if indicating the spot he was talking about. “Curiously enough, there wasn’t any sort of incision mark or even scarring over it. Chances are it was implanted back there before the skin itself was printed on… as gross as that sounds. We think it feeds into the central nervous system, and allows some other machine to plug in. See, it’s got these small relays that travel up into the brain and down the spinal cord, so while this body appears to be entirely organic…”

 

“Hold on, what about that makes you sure he’s an android if the body is organic?” Kageyama cut the other off, a suspicious look clear in his eyes, “Someone’s putting information into his brain – so what? Memory alterations happen all the time, there was even a company that did memory implants before the dust. You know, fantasy vacations and such that seemed real… The company was… Was...”

 

“The company was named Rekal.” Kiyoko supplied from her position at the head of the table, before falling silent once more.

 

“And you’re right Kageyama-san, they did work with memory. However…” Suga picked up, expounding on what Kiyoko had started, “Their technique relied on the manipulation of electrical impulses in the prefrontal cortex to re-organize synapses related to memory. The procedure was far simpler than this, and completely non-invasive. Even early versions of the technology never had need to create such a large implant directly in the central nervous system. In addition, their technique was to manipulate information that was already there, not to load in completely foreign information.” Suga nodded, a smug grin on his face growing while Kageyama’s brow twitched in irritation.

 

“Fine. So let’s go with that explanation and assume it’s not a human. Why the hell would it need a port anyway?” Suga shrugged before folding his arms up against his chest.

 

“I can’t really say for sure. With how large the port is, I can assume safely that it’s meant to accommodate a large amount of information. My first guess as to what that could be would be the android’s programming itself, but… I’ve never known an A.I. to be so content heavy that it would require _ that _ much implanted data. They’re usually all about learning on their own, starting with a blank slate.”

 

“Can’t you just plug into the port and see what’s in there?”

 

Suga let out a loud and unflattering snort at the idea. “Hardly. If the brain were synthetic, it would be easy to plug in and datamine the entire thing, but this android’s brain is organic. I don’t have the technology to get in there, and even if I did I sure as hell don’t have the training to decode whatever nonsense it has stored in that brain. Maybe it would be a different story if I had a degree in neuroscience, but any chances for that kind of work up and left for the colonies years ago.”

 

Kageyama let out a slow breath, trying to sift through the information and make sense of it all. "So... It's definitely an android."

 

"Definitely." Suga agreed with a sharp nod before turning his gaze back towards the table, "It seems like a natural progression after all, to make them fully organic. Neurons can transmit diversified information much faster than any sort of inorganic material, so it would make sense for computers to take advantage of that speed." Kageyama eyed Suga silently before letting his gaze drop back to the android. The train of thought wasn't wrong – technology had always found a way to break through things like material barriers in order to continue its progression.

 

"Alright then. So I hunt down the rogue androids on your report, take them out, and don’t worry when their insides are red instead of black. Easy.” Kageyama nodded as he folded his arms triumphantly, but Suga simply gave him a sheepish look.

 

“Well that’s… Where we’re having our biggest issue,” Suga managed to say, refusing to actually make eye contact with Kageyama. “See, we know there’s at least seven others, based on that little metal barcode. When we scan it, what pops up is a label that marks this one as the eighth in its series... But we have no idea what the rest of them look like.”

 

Kageyama stared at Suga for an extended, uncomfortable moment before very intelligently responding, “... Huh?”

 

Suga became flustered at that, his hands seeming to fidget within the confines of his coat pocket, and eyes looking everywhere but Kageyama’s face. “You see, they’re part of a series that doesn’t actually seem to be on the market yet. We can’t find specifications, face types, functionality, or any sort of details. We’re trying to get in contact with the manufacturer now so we can get more information, but as things are-”

 

“... You don’t know anything about them?”

 

“Yeah… Pretty much.”

 

Kageyama stood speechless for a moment, simply staring at the man before him. Unbelievable. Without a lead on what these things looked like, there was no way he would even be able to tell if his target was human or not, unless he wanted to go opening holes in the back of people’s heads to see if there happened to be a port. It just figured that his first case back would leave him dead in the water as a bounty hunter. His expression darkened at the thought of unemployment, after he’d been so close to regaining his dignity.

 

"Ah, wait! I think I’ve got an idea of what’s going through your head. But I’ve got one thing that’ll be able to help you out with this,” Suga chipped in, suddenly wearing a grin that split his face in two. Kageyama’s scowl deepened at the man as he began rummaging around in the pocket of his lab coat. “Let’s see… Ah, here! This little tool should be able to do the trick.”

 

Kageyama eyed the device Suga was holding out so triumphantly. It looked a bit like a spyglass, with an odd bit on the side meant for… Something or other. When Kageyama looked up into Suga’s eyes with a question on the tip of his tongue, the man simply continued.

 

“It’s called an Arc Reflex Scanner. Attach it to your gun, point it at any target you like, and it’ll display how long it’s taking for signals to be transmitted and processed by the target’s neurons. So, even if these guys are using organic means to speed up their processing, it should still be a few nanoseconds above the human reaction threshold – because their programming isn’t native to the brain and whatnot.”

 

Kageyama held back the urge to heave out a sigh as he fixed the man before him with a tired look. “Are you really sure this is going to work?”

 

“Yes, of course! … Mostly.”

 

Not feeling reassured in the slightest, Kageyama stared down at the device in his hand while he mulled over the details of it all. Seven rogue androids for targets, no physical descriptions to go on, and no information about where they could be or what they could be doing. Even if he went around pointing this thing at every person he came across, it would still be like searching for a needle in a needlestack. These people were asking for the impossible. And if the expectant look Suga was giving him was any indication, he already knew that was the case. Kageyama exhaled slowly before lifting his head to look Suga square in the eye.

 

“I’m sorry-”

 

“It pays well!!” Suga interrupted, as if sensing Kageyama’s incoming rejection, and determined to stop it, “Really, really well. Better than any case you've taken before, and I can guarantee that. The department approved a huge fund because of the danger these things could pose, and because you wouldn't be using our resources much, your cut would be huge!! I'll even get on the floor and beg you if need be, so please… Reconsider?”

 

Kageyama blinked, taken aback by Suga’s sudden outburst, and the determined look on his face.

 

“... How much?”

 

* * *

 

 

Kageyama Tobio was in a daze. He could barely register his own steps against the slick pavement as he walked down the street, each step taking him closer to home and further from his now official place of work. The number Suga had quoted – and the same number that Daichi had later confirmed – was enormous. Even the largest bounty he had ever claimed from Kitagawa Daiichi fell short of the number they had approved for just one of these rogue androids. His head was swimming with zeroes. He would barely even know what to do with the money from a single bounty, and Suga had said there were at least seven more to be found.

 

_ What’s seven times… A number like that… _

 

He mulled over the arithmetic as quickly as his stunned brain could handle, and the figure he returned only served to stun him even more. With money like that, he could afford to drink actual, real milk every day for the next year, instead of the substitutes they sold in the stores. He let his mind wander for a moment, dreaming of a steaming bowl of curry made with actual pork, topped with a soft boiled egg. It had been his favorite when he was younger, but the consumption of livestock had been prohibited in Japan for years now. There wasn’t enough clean land to raise large numbers of livestock without the risk of radiation exposure, and the few animals that were even left alive after the war couldn’t be bred fast enough to meet demands. He consoled himself with the idea that he could at least afford to eat as much pork substitute curry as his heart desired from here on out.

 

Beyond that though, he had no idea what he would even use so much money for. Rent and food had been his only steady expenses for years. Work had been his only obsession. He had no family to care for. Even the stereo he kept playing in his apartment wasn’t for personal amusement, it was just to drive off the eerie silence emanating from the other units.

 

His pace slowed from a dazed shamble to a complete halt, eyes landing unfocused on the dingy window display of the shop he had stopped in front of. If he only got money to keep alive, only kept alive to work, and only worked to get money, then was there really even a point to having so much?

 

_ Is there really any merit to living this kind of empty life? _

 

Drops of rain fell on his hood, tapping lightly against the material in a scattered rhythm. He could feel a chill creeping into the air with the fresh rainfall, snaking its way over every bit of skin he had exposed, and slowly covering the window display before him in fog. The cold was uncomfortable, but he couldn’t bring himself to move.

 

“Hey, you!” A gruff voice called out, snapping Kageyama out of his thoughts. He turned his head to find a bleach-blond man leaning out from the storefront, balancing a cigarette between his lips and levelling Kageyama with a firm gaze. “The sign here says no loitering. So are you going to come in and buy something or do I have to chase you off?”

 

“N-no, I…” He started to protest, but felt it die on his lips as the shopkeep furrowed his eyebrows, obviously displeased, “I’ll buy something.”

 

The man’s intimidating glare dissolved at that, making way for a bright smile that showed off two rows of pearly white teeth. “Good, good. Come inside then, and don’t track any water through my store, you hear?”

 

Kageyama stepped over to the door as the shopkeep ducked back inside, and started wiping the soles of his shoes across the ratty doormat that had been laid out in the entryway. He glanced around the store, taking in the sight of shelf after shelf littered with all kinds of electronics and mechanical parts. Some were still sitting in their original packages – translucent plastic cases that still shone even with the dingy lighting – but most of the items that he could see were old, worn down pieces of junk. He slid his hands into his pockets and wandered down the center aisle slowly, looking over each rusty item with feigned interest, until he reached the end of the row and the checkout counter where the blond shopkeep was sitting. The man quirked a brow at Kageyama’s empty hands, who froze at the gaze.

 

“Uhm… I…” Kageyama started, feeling flustered by the awkward confrontation. But the man only cocked his head, reaching up to take his cigarette between two fingers and snuff it out in a nearby ashtray.

 

“Here, I think I’ve got something that’ll interest you more than all that old salvage stuff,” The man stood up from his stool, reaching into a cabinet behind him and rummaging about, “Figures you wouldn’t be here for parts anyway, seems like your generation only ever wants these new VR things… Ah, here it is.” Moving carefully, the man pulled out what looked like a black motorcycle helmet and held it out as if to show it off. Kageyama looked from the man’s face, then to the device, and then back, face clouded with confusion.

 

“What? You’ve never tried a Mercer unit before?” The man asked, his brows shooting up in surprise when Kageyama shook his head no. “The heck kind of kid are you?”

 

“I’m twenty-six.” Kageyama grumbled bitterly, and the man only shrugged in response.

 

“That’s still a kid to an old man like me, you know. Don’t flaunt your youth,” he scolded half-heartedly as he shuffled out from behind the counter and towards a stand set up in the corner. “C’mere, kid.”

 

Biting back a protest at the nickname, Kageyama walked over to the shopkeep and the stand, looking over its odd shape. It looked like some kind of metal traffic post, with two handlebars jutting out from each side at about waist height, and bolts securing it to the scuffed-up flooring at their feet. When Kageyama looked up, he found the shopkeep holding the helmet out to him with an expectant look on his face.

 

"This is a Mercer unit. Put it on your head and it’ll sync up your brain with other users so you can all share one simulated experience. I’ll let you try out the demo mode since it’s your first time, so you can get your feet wet without having to worry about anyone else poking around in your head. Go on. It's as easy as putting on any other helmet," the man encouraged, the tone of his voice firm – likely eager to get this one last sale under his belt before the end of the day. Kageyama gave him a sour look before taking the matte black helmet and slipping it over his head. The inside was underwhelming, to say the least; It was like any regular helmet, just with an opaque visor that blocked out his entire field of vision aside from the smallest sliver at the bottom of his periphery. Were he the claustrophobic type, he'd be uncomfortable as hell, but it really just gave him the same feeling as wearing a box over one's head. ...He felt stupid.

 

"Good, now I'm just going to guide your hands over here to give you something to grip. First-timers have a tendency to wander around while they're connected, so I want you to keep your hands tight when I start it up. Don’t need you bumping into any shelves and knocking shit over." Kageyama jolted when he felt a pair of hands close down on his wrists, and fought back the urge to yank his hands away from the gentle grip. His skin prickled uncomfortably at the touch, and he grimaced, unseen, under the helmet. The discomfort faded only marginally as the man brought his hands to the set of handles, forcing his hands to clamp down around the tough rubber grips before releasing him completely. There was a pregnant pause where Kageyama only stood there in silence, unguided by the shopkeep who had presumably walked off to start the machine. He squeezed his hands tightly around the handles, feeling their rubber grips give ever so slightly under the pressure. ... He was starting to feel seriously stupid. Why was he doing this again?

 

"There we are. Now, I'm going to turn it on, and while it boots up, I want you to focus on keeping your hands tight around those handles, okay kid?" The man's voice called out from a couple feet away, muffled by the obstruction of the helmet. Kageyama gave a single, stiff nod, and after a beat of nothing, a brilliant blue light flooded the inside of the helmet. He winced at the sudden, intense display shining directly into his retinas, and tightened his fingers around the handles, feeling rubber squish under his death grip. After a few seconds, a large-print logo faded into view, written in some blocky english font. The much smaller, heaven-sent katakana underneath translated it for him - Mercer. English had never really been his strongest subject in school, and he felt at least a little grateful for his own personal convenience that the dust had proven English to be a complete waste of time... albeit by turning the fucking global economy on its head, but there was no use in bemoaning that.

 

"Alright, it's going to feel strange at first, but just remember those grips." The shopkeep chimed out one more time, earning an unseen roll of Kageyama's eyes.

 

_ Yeah, yeah, grip the handles. No point in repeating it when I'm already doing it. _

 

Giving the handles one more squeeze, Kageyama stared into the loading bar beneath the title. It jumped faster than expected, from seventeen to thirty-eight percent in the blink of an eye. In almost no time at all, it had reached one hundred percent and then–

 

The whole thing went dark.

 

A moment passed in silence, and Kageyama blinked in shock. ... Seriously? The demo crashed in the middle of loading? His brows drew down into a bitter glare, and he turned his head to where he thought the shopkeep had been standing, ready to verbally tear the guy to pieces.

 

"Oi, what kind of sales pitch is this? Your damn machine just went d-"

 

He didn't get the chance to finish his tirade before an intense sensation ripped through his spine, and the floor dropped out from under his feet. His head whipped back and forth, trying to gain a sense of location through the sudden panic of being dropped from god knows how high to god knows where. But there was nothing. Even the small sliver of light at the bottom of his vision had abandoned him, leaving him falling endlessly through inky darkness. His entire body tensed, ready to scream out in his terror and found that he could still feel the rough texture of handle bar against his palms. But... he held his hands up to his eyes, getting a good look of their shape regardless of the darkness about him. They were open and empty, with their palms facing him. and yet, when he willed them to grip, he could still feel his fists tightening around those handles.

 

Slowly, the feeling of falling receded, almost forgotten in his newfound shock. It was as though his consciousness had been dropped right out of his body, but was still hanging on by a thread, vaguely controlling his body from somewhere in the back of his brain. He flexed his hands again, once, twice, getting used to the strange feeling of being in two places at once.

 

...He wasn't entirely sure he liked it.

 

And then, as slowly as the feeling of falling faded out, new sensations began to fill in from the black. Where there was once nothing, the feeling of ground underneath his feet came, and the feeling of air rushing past his head in his descent became a gentle breeze, flicking at the strands of his dark hair. The quiet lapping of running water tickled at his ears – along with what he could have sworn was the call of a bird.

 

_ No, that's not possible. _

 

He told himself with a violent shake of his head. Birds had been the first indication of any negative consequences of the dust, quite literally falling from the skies like rain. Kageyama had once seen an entire flock plummet to the ground in perfect, horrifying synch, hitting the hard pavement in a barrage of blood and feathers. He’d had nightmares for months about that, and even to this day he had a hard time forgetting the way those tiny forms had bounced and splattered before rolling to a stop, motionless and mangled.

 

Even now, nobody knew for sure why birds were so violently affected. Some scientists had said it was poor respiration, others said it was constant exposure from flying too close to the worst of it - But really, in the end the cause didn't matter. The majority of birds on earth had long gone extinct, the literal canaries in the coal mine to earth's accelerating decay.

 

Though, Kageyama figured, squinting as a bright orange light began to fade in from the darkness, anything was possible in virtual reality. The breath was stolen from his lungs as he realized what exactly he was looking at. There before his eyes, was unmistakably, the sun, unobstructed and painting the sky around it in vivid shades of orange, red, and purple. It was so bright – his eyes stung and watered staring directly at it, but there was no way he could resist. He could feel its radiance on his skin, soaking him with warmth all the way down to his core, as welcome as a warm bath and dry clothes after being caught in the rain – only this rain had been all he had known for far too many years. A deep inhale brought the scent of fresh-cut grass to his nose, instead of the lingering rotten scent of the ever-present dust, and he had the brief notion that he might have dropped dead in the store, and simply moved on to a pleasant afterlife. Though, on second thought, and after another squeeze of his hands, he decided that probably wasn't the case.

 

Now curious as to what else this world could reveal to him, Kageyama tore his star-spotted gaze away from the sun and turned himself about, taking in the surroundings. He seemed to be standing on some unknown riverbank, with neatly-trimmed grass softening his step, and a large incline rolling up to what must have been a road. On the other side of the river, he could make out the darkened silhouette of buildings – houses he decided from their size and shape – and a bit further down, he could see a bridge that spanned the width of the river, likely joining the road on his side with the town on the other. It reminded him a little of a riverbank he had played along as a child, and an odd sense of nostalgia filled him. Suddenly, he could understand the appeal behind these VR devices, and why they had become so popular. He turned his gaze back towards the sun setting on the other side of the river, content to simply enjoy the moment when something grabbed at his attention.

 

_ Papt. Papt. Papt. Papt. _

 

The same sound, over and over again, like something hitting the grass and dirt underfoot. Kageyama looked about, his brow furrowed in confusion. It was a foreign and wholly unwelcome addition to his experience, and he intended to figure out what it was, as well as put a damn stop to it.

 

His eyes landed on a dark figure a ways off, and after a second he figured that was the source. It was... Jumping. And to an insane height at that, the sound of each landing making a _ papt _ echo out over the landscape rhythmically. Hesitantly, Kageyama took a step towards the person, then another, until his feet carried him close enough to get a good look. The person –  rather, the kid, by the size of him – was dressed in a black school uniform, the likes of which Kageyama hadn't seen since his own days of compulsory education. His white sneakers were filthy with torn blades of grass and chunks of mud, flinging them off in every direction with each jump, but he didn't seem fazed by any of it. His attention all seemed to be focused on his jumps, and extending a hand as high as his arms could possibly reach at the peak of every leap, as if he were trying to reach out and grab at something high, high above.

 

_ Who the hell is this, another user? I thought that guy said I was going to be alone in here… Maybe it’s some kind of NPC? _

 

Kageyama mulled over his thoughts as he watched the kid jump single-mindedly. He shifted back and forth from foot to foot anxiously. This... didn't feel normal. An NPC would acknowledge him right off, wouldn't it? What was the point of having something that didn't, and spent its time doing something as useless as jumping at nothing? Maybe it was defective. Bugged, or something.

 

"... Hey." Kageyama called out to the strange kid experimentally, but even after that echoed over the sounds of the tumbling river and faded back into silence, he didn't stop jumping. The same as before, he didn't even acknowledge Kageyama's existence.

 

_ Guess it’s just some shitty, broken NPC. What's the big idea, putting this product out to the public when they still have bugs this obvious. _

 

Kageyama's face pulled into a blistering glare as he stomped over to the kid, his hands curled into tense fists. He couldn't believe that shitty shopkeep had the nerve to push a half-assed product like this, and intended to see how truly broken this coding was–

 

But the second he was in arm's distance, the kid stopped, and immediately snapped his head to catch Kageyama's eyes square with his own.

 

And that face immediately knocked any anger or _ breath _ right from Kageyama's body. Sitting atop his head was a shock of wild, mussed hair the same vivid shade of orange as the sunset, and his skin was flushed the same shade of red in his exhaustion. Looking at him drew forth the same intense feeling of staring directly into the sun. But the part that impacted Kageyama most, truly rocking him to the very core were the kid's two hazel eyes, connecting directly to his own, and bearing down on him with an overwhelming aura that he couldn't have possibly expected from such a small kid – It was like his very soul was being pierced by that gaze, and Kageyama's gut clenched with the unfamiliar feeling of fear. Even coming eye-to-eye with a target had never rattled him like this, or at least not since his very first days of bounty hunting. But then again, no target had ever looked at him like this either, not with this sheer, overpowering conviction that could probably sway the earth itself into moving at his whim.

 

Any words he could have spoken to this being before were suddenly dead on his tongue.

 

He swallowed thickly, trying to will himself to stop being affected because damn it all, he wouldn't be intimidated by some middle schooler half his size, when suddenly the fierceness vanished from the boy's eyes, and was replaced with a look of surprise.

 

"Who are you?" He asked, with a voice that rang out, high and light in the cool evening air. In that instant, any fear Kageyama had felt evaporated, leaving him feeling like he had just been hit by a truck and still managed to walk away unscathed. He quickly gave a shake of his head to get his mind back in order – This was just some stupid kid, after all. There wasn’t any reason to feel intimidated.

 

"... Who are you?" Kageyama shot back in the most authoritative voice he could manage, a scowl clear on his face. It was a response that didn't seem to sit well with the tiny ginger, his features pulling into an evident frown.

 

"I asked you first!"

 

"And you're supposed to give your name before asking for a stranger's, idiot!" The elder shot back, irritation sharpening his tone. However, the kid didn't seem the least bit cowed by it, only letting out some kind of squawk and raising his fists.

 

"Who are you calling an idiot, idiot?! Do you want to fight? Huh?!" The boy yelled, his high-pitched voice cracking under the force. Kageyama fixed the kid with his most intimidating glare, and felt a rush of smug satisfaction when the color drained from the boy’s face and he lept back, putting distance between the two of them. “S-s-s-shikami…!”

 

“Does an idiot like you even watch noh…?”

 

“Shut up!” The boy seemed to bounce back from his panic, getting right back into Kageyama’s face. “Everybody knows what a shikami is!”

 

“So you don’t watch it?” Kageyama asked, staring down the boy with a shit-eating grin that widened when the kid puffed his cheeks into a ridiculous pout, finding more pleasure in provoking him than a mature and responsible adult should have.

 

“That doesn’t matter! You’re a jerk! Scary-face jerk!” He huffed, face turning redder and redder.

 

“And you’re a shrimpy grade-schooler.” Kageyama shot right back.

 

“I’m a high school student damn it! And I’m still growing!” The boy shoved a finger at Kageyama’s face. “Just remember my name! Hinata Shouyou is going to become the best volleyball player in all of Miyagi – No, all of Japan! I’ll grow super tall and show you just how cool I am, mister scary-face jerk!”

 

Kageyama blinked down at the kid in silence, holding eye contact with that intense gaze, until he felt as though they were about to burn holes in each other’s heads. This kid was strange, in more ways than Kageyama could probably count on his fingers. But he couldn’t deny that the kid – Hinata – had passion. It was easy to see it in those eyes, easy to hear it in his words.

 

_ He’s like pure energy in a human body. _

 

With a sigh, Kageyama turned his head away to break their eye contact. Hinata beamed at that, his smile splitting his face in two, and Kageyama felt that if it got any wider his face might actually become all tooth. The redhead hissed a pleased little “I win!” under his breath and Kageyama tried to pretend he wasn’t completely irked by the thought of losing to _ this guy. _

 

“... Kageyama.” He mumbled out, and Hinata’s smile dropped to make way for a curious look, cocking his head at the sound.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“My name. It’s Kageyama Tobio.”

 

A moment passed between them silently, a sudden gust of wind whipping the grass at their feet into a frenzy, and blowing stray blades into the air. Hinata stared up with wide eyes, and Kageyama watched out of his periphery, refusing to give him the satisfaction of another potential staring contest victory. Slowly, a smile grew on Hinata’s face, until it was right back to the beaming grin from before.

 

“Nice to meet you, Kageyama-kun.” Kageyama huffed at the honorific, and looked back to Hinata’s face to protest – After all, he was definitely still older than a high school kid and that kind of disrespect couldn’t fly. Yet when he saw the full force of that stupid, sunny grin, the protest died on his lips. It was like looking into a spotlight, it was so ridiculously bright. Kageyama turned his face away again to spare his poor retinas.

 

“Y-you too.”

 

Suddenly, there was a hand on Kageyama’s wrist, squeezing gently. He looked down in surprise, only to find both of Hinata’s hands held at his sides and absolutely nowhere near Kageyama’s wrists at all. Brow furrowing, Kageyama lifted the hand in question and trained it with an inquisitive look. He could feel it, the sensation of a rough hand gripping his wrist, feel the movement of the muscles beneath the fingers, pulling… pulling…

 

And then something hit him, hard. The breath rushed from his lungs in a single wheeze, and his vision blanked for a split second, only to come to in complete darkness. He whipped his head around in a panic, his lungs struggling to reclaim the air it had been robbed of, when he caught the sound of another voice.

 

“Quit thrashing around damn it, you’re gonna knock something over!” Kageyama stilled at that, and after a second the darkness was ripped away, leaving him standing wild-eyed in the junk shop with the blond shopkeep standing over him with Mercer unit held protectively in his hands. He blinked up at the shopkeep, tension flooding out from his body as reality came back to him.

 

This was the real world. Curiously, he lifted his hand and curled his fingers into a fist, then spread them out wide once more. He no longer felt the squish of the rubber grips on his palm. But, somehow he could still feel the ghost of a breeze on his cheeks, the scent of fresh-cut grass in the air, and the cadence of Hinata’s high-pitched banter. It was all fake, but somehow felt even more intense and real than the grungy shop he was standing in now.

 

“Geez, you must have really liked it to spend that much time connected. After the first ten minutes I was worried you weren’t going to disconnect at all and I’d be stuck with some vegetable!” The man kept grumbling as he moved back to his spot behind the counter, first setting down the helmet and then reaching for a fresh cigarette from his apron pocket, “So, are you gonna take this thing off my hands or what? I’ll give you a good down payment offer since you seem to like it so much.” The shopkeep grunted once his cigarette was placed safely between his lips and lit, pointing to the helmet with his newly freed hand.

 

Kageyama looked slowly from the helmet to the shopkeep, their steady gazes meeting one another for a prolonged moment before he looked back down to the helmet, sitting invitingly on the counter.

 

_ I want to see that world again. _

  
Drawing in a slow breath, Kageyama turned his face back up to the man and gave a firm nod.


End file.
